PAX Encounters: Hoard Multiplayer Dissected in New Videos

After a successful showing of Hoard’s multiplayer modes at PAX, developer Big Sandwich Games wanted to share two new videos with PlayStation.Blog readers today showing off a full match in both the cooperative and competitive models. Watch them in HD, if possible, so you can get a good look at the details that make up Hoard.

Hoard’s gameplay is simple on its surface, but strategic to its core. In classic dual-stick shooter style, the left analog stick maneuvers your dragon while the right stick activates your fire breath. The goal is to accumulate as much gold as your dragon can carry by burning structures and enemies, then returning to your treasure hoard to safely deposit your loot for big points (with multiplier bonuses if you’re on a spree). Collect enough gold and, in an RPG-style twist, you’ll be able to level up your dragon’s speed, gold carrying capacity, armor, or fire breath power via a quick tap of the D-pad. In a competitive match, choosing the right upgrade path is a key to besting your opponents. If an enemy dragon is using a Hoard Thief power-up to steal your gold, for instance, you can counter by pumping up your speed rating and chasing him down.

So far, so good. But playing Hoard reveals subtleties that are easy to miss at a glance. The surrounding kingdom for instance, is teeming with details: tiny wagons carrying grain from the mill to town, carriages shuttling princesses from building to building, and stealthy thieves scrambling around your treasure pile. What’s more, the surrounding kingdom continually evolves around you, with defensive structures such as Wizard Towers that erect in response to your destruction. In fact, it pays to allow the kingdom to grow and thrive before swooping in to collect your ill-gotten gains.

Hoard is packed with play modes, including Treasure (collect as much gold as possible in single-player or co-op), Princess Rush (a competitive mode where the only goal is to capture 15 princesses), and a classic survival mode where you try to outlast ever-increasing waves of enemies. Both couch and online co-op play are supported as well, in any combination of up to four players, with some competitive modes for good measure.

Hoard will land on the PS3 this fall, and a separate, handheld-optimized version will also appear on the PSP. What do you think of Big Sandwich Games’ debut PSN title? Leave your questions and comments below.

Howdy–On the off chance you only watched the first 2 minutes of each match, fast forward to the last few minutes and you’ll see plenty of action! Might not be your thing, but I guarantee it’s anything but dull!

We have announced $14.99 for PS3. Haven’t yet announced PSP price, but will soon!

For that $14.99, you get over 35 unique maps and 4 different gameplay modes. Counting online modes, there is 10 hours of content right out of the digital box, just counting playing each map once. And this is a game about score attack (leaderboards) and badges/awards, so you’ll be getting closer to 30+ hours of content in the end!

Please embed html5 or YouTube video when I’m browsing from an iPhone or html5-enabled browser. Some posts have video I can view, but most (including this one) do not. Thanks!

re: Hoard, the little details are nice. I’m still concerned it will look like an upscaled Wii/PSP game; the models, lighting, and shaders are still lacking what I am used to in a downloadable PS3 game. Given that Hoard doesn’t appear to have much of a story or character development, it needs to look and sound good :)

I love that there is local and online co-op. Does it include high quality voice chat? I ask about the quality because some games’ voice chat (like Ghostbusters) sound significantly better than others (Castle Crashers).

These videos are certainly more informative than the trailers I saw previously. I like that it seems things are not restricted to a grid. The wooden table (visible at the edges of the map) makes it seem as if a bunch of miniatures have come to life.

Thanks for more details in the response above. About how many different badges/awards are there?

Is there a way to temporarily zoom the camera out during a match so that you can look at the entire thing?

@Tyler Sigman thanks for the response. I am so torn now. I love MP, but on the go gaming has been my passions since Valkyria Chronicles came out. I might just have to give blood or something so I can get both.

Looks Alright, I like the multiplayer Aspect and general RTS feel for the game. With that being said, i just dont find it to be worth 15$ because all its re playability is based on Trophies and Leader boards.

Sidenote: Replies are always top notch, even if they dont really tell us anything

Hi Shadowsquirrel–cool name by the way. Early in my career I designed a game called “Night of the Ill-Tempered Squirrel”, so I am partial to squirrels. Especially those of the ill-tempered or dark variety.

Think of HOARD like an arcade game with strategy elements. In the same way that all of Geometry Wars’ (or Asteroids, for that matter) replay is about score (e.g. technically there is only about 10-minutes of content in that game), HOARD is the same way. Except HOARD actually does have 35 different maps and 4 modes which easy present unique challenges.